Event Registration for 2011 Ottawa Tenants Conference

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Ottawa Sun – Sunday, Nov 29, 2009

Doug Hempstead, Sun Media, doug.hempstead@sunmedia.ca

Organization key to rights says activist

Wheelchair-bound Ottawa Housing tenant Lana Wong says she routinely puts up with loud neighbours, break-ins and seen at least one death threat.

“It goes right through your head,” she said of the noise. “All your picture frames fall down, your dogs howl, your babies wake up and even the cockroaches run out of the house.”

She and several dozen other tenants gathered at City Hall yesterday to voice their concerns and learn about their rights in the third annual Ottawa Tenants’ Conference.

The main focus of the event was supposed to be financial – but most of the frustrated tenants, like Wong, wanted answers of safety and security.
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We believe everyone deserves to have a say in the decisions that affect their lives, and as key players, tenants must lead the transformation in developing policy and solutions.

We envision rental communities where tenants live in adequate, affordable, safe housing, free from anxiety, oppression, and discrimination. Through education, support and sharing of best practices, we seek to strengthen tenants’ voices to win housing improvements and develop positive, healthy communities.

Part of the conference is to provide a year-round forum to discuss issues that pertain to tenants in Ottawa. You can read about issues, comment, and interact with other tenants at the Ottawa Tenants Conference Blog.

The 5th Ottawa Tenants Conference is open to both tenants who live on the private market and those who live in social housing.

Click here to Register

110 Laurier Avenue West
City Hall (Andrew Haydon Hall)
Saturday September 10th, 2011
9am-3pm
Admission is free

It will be held in Andrew Haydon Hall at 110 Laurier Avenue West. Admission is free and lunch is provided. Bus tickets and a limited number of daycare subsidies are also available on a first come, first served basis. In addition, each participant will receive a Tenant Kit which contains information about tenants’ rights, community resources available when they’re having problems with their housing, and information about trends and issues affecting tenants in Ottawa.

As a tenant of Ottawa, you can be active participant in the community as a tenant.

You can do this by attending the conference which will help you become familiar with the tools and information that address individual housing problems. By increasing your knowledge, you will be able to identify best practices of other associations. You can also assist tenants in building networks and alliances with other tenants and allies. By helping both your fellow tenants and the organizations involved, you can identify gaps in services that could enhance the quality of life for all tenants in Ottawa.

As a tenant of Ottawa, you are entitled to know what it legal means to be a tenant, what your rights are, and what possible violations of those rights could be.

The goal of the Ottawa Tenants Conference is to address the imbalance of power that exists between landlords and tenants by providing a safe environment to engage tenants in dialogue. We strive to reduce the isolation tenants experience in dealing with their housing problems by bringing them together collectively and empowering them to advocate for themselves. We provide education to tenants about structural legislation and systemic policy so they have a better understanding of the broader guiding principles and the decisions at a higher level that impact on their lives.

Learn about the Top Ten Tenant issues in Ottawa

1. According to the latest Census data, tenants comprise 40% of Ottawa households.
2. Tenants pay 1.7% more in property taxes through their rents than homeowners of comparable units, even though tenants have approximately half the income.
3. Ottawa lost 143 units through demolitions in 2009. In early, 2010, approximately 200 tenants were permanently displaced due to a rash of fires.
4. There were more than 69,000 eviction applications filed at the Landlord and Tenant Board in 2008, mostly tenants struggling to pay unfair rents.
5. Rental units built after 1991 are exempt from rent control. Market rate units in social housing are also exempt from rent provisions.
6. In the mid 1990’s, the Provincial Government cancelled funding to tenant advocacy groups. In Ottawa, the Federation of Ottawa Carleton Tenants’ Associations, The Ottawa Council of Low Income Support Services, and the Ottawa Tenant Council all lost funding.
7. Landlords are well organized through organizations such as the Ottawa Region Landlords Association, Eastern Ontario Landlords Organization, and the Fair Rental Policy Organization. Conversely, tenants have no formal structure to have their voices heard. This creates an imbalance during consultation processes.
8. According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the local vacancy rate is 1.5 per cent. Analysts agree that a ‘healthy’ vacancy rate is 3 per cent. Without rent control on vacant units, landlords can charge whatever they want since tenants have less choice. It also gives landlords more incentive to evict tenants as a way to raise rents.
9. Since 1995, only 9% of new housing built was rental housing, but this doesn’t keep pace with the number of units lost through demolition, conversion, or renovations (see number 3).
10. When the vacancy rate rises above 3% for two consecutive years, landlords can apply to have rental units converted to condominiums. During the period of 2004 and 2005, when the vacancy rate rose above 3 per cent, there were 681 conversions of rental units to condominiums.